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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28224096">running from the cold</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tokkias/pseuds/tokkias'>tokkias</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Snowball Fight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:28:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,316</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28224096</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tokkias/pseuds/tokkias</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>But winter came and went. And came again. And then came spring. Then summer, then autumn, then winter again. And every year she remained standing, agonising, through the cold and dark months.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>running from the cold</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Maki didn’t like the snow. Snow signified the beginning of winter, and winter was nothing but a time of suffering and hardship. The cold was never welcome when you lived with very little in the way of heating or warm clothing. More often than not Maki found herself giving away her coat or blankets to the younger children at the orphanage. She claimed it was to quell their whining, but deep down she knew it was because she cared; because she was used to the cold, because they deserved it more than she did. She never expected to make it out of that orphanage alive. Every winter she thought it to be her very last.</p><p>But winter came and went. And came again. And then came spring. Then summer, then autumn, then winter again. And every year she remained standing, agonising, through the cold and dark months.</p><p>Though, apparently not everyone shared her disdain for the season, hence where she stood, ankles deep in the snow in the backyard of Kaito’s grandparents home at his insistence. Not only did Kaito tolerate the colder months, he seemed rather fond of them. To him, the drop in temperature was just a sign of the start of the holiday season. </p><p>Holidays were not celebrated in the orphanage Maki grew up in; any type of celebration was much too expensive, especially when they were struggling to provide basic necessities. There were no decorations, no big family meal, and no gifts from Santa under the tree. To Maki, December 25th was nothing more than another day on the calendar, but this year, at Kaito’s insistence she was spending it with him, experiencing all the things that she had missed out on growing up.</p><p>The snow had been falling all day and now rested in a thick coat concealing the grass beneath it. Her jacket and gloves kept her warm, but she still shivered as the cold air hit her face and her breath created a misty cloud in front of her.</p><p>It wasn’t until she felt a soft impact on her upper back that she planted herself back in reality. Reaching over her shoulder, her gloved hands came into contact with someone cold and damp before whipping herself around to see Kaito standing before her, a mischievous grin on his lips, and it wasn’t until he spoke up that she finally processed what had happened.</p><p>“Aw, c’mon Maki roll! You’re not gonna throw one back?” He already had a second snowball in hand, clearly prepared to ensure a fight would she choose to retaliate, but he stood fixated in his position to give her an easy shot if she did fight back.</p><p>Without thinking, Maki bent down and gathered a lump of snow in her gloved hands, squishing it together into something that resembled a sphere, before pulling her arm back and throwing it at Kaito, where it hit his shoulder with a soft thud as the snowball disintegrated on impact. </p><p>As soon as the snow hit, Kaito’s face lit up and he threw back the snowball he had already in his hand. Prepared for it this time, Maki dodged the incoming projectile and grabbed a fistful of snow to throw back. </p><p>With nothing to send back at her, Kaito instead resorted to running away as she pelted him with snowballs, hitting him with precision that he probably should have anticipated before he challenged her. </p><p>She couldn’t contain the laughter that escaped her lips, watching Kaito stumble through the snow, desperately trying to dodge her shots while also trying his best to throw some back at her. She didn’t even mind when one hit the side of her head and the snow slid down the side of her face and seeped into her jacket. The feeling of the cold against her skin was not uncomfortable, but rather enthralling, filling her with a sense of childlike wonder that she never got to experience after all her years spent running from the cold. </p><p>With an uncharacteristic grin painted across her face, Maki leaned back down to gather some more snow before Kaito could get another hit in, forming it into a large, compact ball, and throwing it at him with as much force as she could muster. </p><p>The snowball hit him square in the chest with such force that knocked him over, falling backwards into the snow with a thud. Maki stood for a moment, waiting for him to get back up, only to be filled with worry when he didn’t pull himself off the ground.</p><p>“K-Kaito!”</p><p>Her heart dropped for a moment as she ran over to his side, dropping to her knees to make sure she hadn’t hurt him, only to have him pull her down onto the snow with him. </p><p>“Idiot…” she murmured, “Don’t worry me like that.”</p><p>He placed a kiss on her forehead, pulling her closer before chuckling softly, “Heh, sorry ‘bout that,” </p><p>Maki hadn’t realised just how late it had gotten in the midst of their tussle, with the stars already littering the sky. They both settled into the comfortable silence as they lay together watching the stars as they did almost every other night.</p><p>“You feeling cold?”</p><p>Having gotten caught up in the joy of their snowball fight, followed by the quiet serenity of stargazing next to Kaito, she had barely registered the cold air hitting her face until he pointed it out to her. She nodded, burying her face in his chest, taking advantage of the warmth his body radiated until he pulled himself off the ground, offering a gloved hand to her, which she took, pulling herself out of the snow and stumbling back into his arms. </p><p>Detaching herself from Kaito, Maki looked over at the indent in the snow from where that had been laying, surrounded by messy shoe prints that documented where they had ran and stumbled across the yard.</p><p>What had once been a pristine and untouched blanket of snow was now a landscape telling the story of two young lovers fooling around in the cold.</p><p>“You comin’?” Kaito was already standing in the doorway, waiting for Maki to join him inside whilst she stood out in the cold that she claimed to hate. </p><p>With a small nod, she rushed back inside, shedding her boots and jacket before planting herself down in front of the fireplace, adorned with its stockings and tinsel, welcoming the warmth it brought her. Although she was perfectly content holding her hands out to the heat of the fire, she appreciated the plush blanket Kaito had wrapped around her and the warm mug of cocoa Granny Momota had prepared for her. It was cozy. An unfamiliar sensation, but certainly not one that was unwelcome.</p><p>As Maki sat cross legged on the carpeted floor, Kaito took the opportunity to rest his head in her lap, closing his eyes as she awkwardly tried to drape some of the blanket over him. Both of them sat there, fully content in that moment with nothing more than the crackle of the fire and the faint sound of Christmas songs playing from in the kitchen to fill the silence. </p><p>Kaito’s eyes fluttered back open after a few moments, flashing her a grin, to which she smiled back down at him before he broke their silence. </p><p>“Did ya have fun?”</p><p>“Yeah, I did,” she admitted.</p><p>His face seemed to light up at her response, “So does that mean ya don’t hate the cold anymore?”</p><p>“It’s going to take more than me absolutely destroying you in a snowball fight for me to start tolerating this weather,” there was a joking tone in her voice, but he still pouted at her comment which elicited a soft laugh from her, and he couldn’t help but laugh along too.</p><p>Maki wouldn't mind spending more time in the cold, but only if it was time spent with him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i did want to get two fics out before christmas but this one took me a lot longer than i wanted it to so unless i can pull something out of my ass in like two days this is probably going to be my last published fic of the hell year that's been 2020. anyway, i hope you all have a good holidays, whatever you do or don't celebrate. stay safe and have a good new year!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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